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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23249272">What We Can</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepia_sigyn/pseuds/sepia_sigyn'>sepia_sigyn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU/Omni-U, Apprentice!Reader, Baby Yoda - Freeform, Because remember how innocent we once were?, Creativity, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Imagination, Isolation, MagicTutor!Loki, Midgardian!Reader, Mortality, with powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:55:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23249272</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepia_sigyn/pseuds/sepia_sigyn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a strange new world. </p><p>But you and Loki are facing it together.</p><p>Trigger warning: COVID-19</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki (Marvel)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What We Can</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wasn't sure if I was going to post this. As I want to be sensitive to the many, many ways in which this crisis is impacting people, I may remove it later. Please know that, wherever you are, whatever you're going through, I hope this offers even the tiniest bit of comfort through the surprising wisdom of our favorite mischief-maker. Much domestic fluff ensues. You've been warned.</p><p>Disclaimer: Not intended, in any form, as medical advice or definitive guidelines. Please consult your local authorities for the latest information on how to protect yourself and others. Stay safe &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Loki’s lips part slightly as you pull out of the kiss. Your eyes meet.</p><p>For a minute, you almost forget.</p><p>You sigh.</p><p>“We really shouldn’t do that anymore, should we? For now…at least?”</p><p>His forehead tenses as he slides back on the couch. “You’re right.”</p><p>Your face falls a bit and you scoot next to him. “I’m going to miss it.”</p><p>Loki grins and runs his hand along your waist, “Ah but what could this Midgardian virus possibly do that my abilities would not be able to remedy?”</p><p>You can only manage a faint smile in return.</p><p>“I’m sure it would be nothing compared to the gnashing goat plague we had on Asgard four hundred years ago. Though, unbeknownst to me, my Jotun blood rendered me immune. Regrettably, that was not the case for my dear brother.”</p><p>“Thor got sick?”</p><p>“Oh, very. He even grew a tail. Well. That may have been my get well gift to him.”</p><p>This elicits a tiny chuckle from you. The first time you’ve laughed in three days.</p><p>Loki's eyes sparkle at the hint of mirth in you. Then they grow distant. “We almost lost Mother. I really feared we would. It was close.”</p><p>You rub his back and then he clasps your hand, his eyes flickering to meet yours, a solemn smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Well. While it pales in comparison to your luscious lips, I will ransom this as often as I can as a consolation.” His lips barely brush the back of your palm. “Gentle maker, may I remain ever worthy. As long as you are washed first, with soap. And warm water. For 20 seconds. Or alcohol. At leas-”</p><p>You knit your brow. “This is serious, Loki. We can’t be too careful. It may not harm you but what if…What if I have it already and that means you are also carryi-“</p><p>“So what, they have to lock me up?” he shrugs. “Not exactly an extraordinary state of affairs for me now is it?”</p><p>“You stop doing the crime, you stop doing the time,” you smirk.</p><p>“Oh but that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?”</p><p>He leans back and you rest your head in his lap. “It really doesn’t get to you then?” Your voice drops as your mind lingers on what could become your own fates in the coming weeks. “The isolation?”</p><p>He sighs. “I cannot deny that it has. At times.”</p><p>“And how do you cope?”</p><p>Loki lets out a single chuckle. He makes one of his daggers appear and hands it to you.</p><p>“Take a look.”</p><p>You sit up and observe.</p><p>You always forget how it feels. Holding an ancient relic imbued with magic and wisdom and centuries of Loki’s tactical imprints. Asgardian weaponry was mated to its espoused. The spirit within it, gifted by the Norns, had to be nurtured and appeased. It was so much more than a simple dagger. And, yet, he trusted you enough to let you hold it. From time to time.</p><p>You arch an eyebrow. “Yeah?”</p><p>“Look closer,” he gestures towards you with both hands and you tilt your head.</p><p>“Still not seeing it.”</p><p>He rolls his eyes a bit and pulls in close behind you. You feel heat rise in your cheeks as his arms circle you and he gently lifts the blade from your grasp. He tilts it up slightly and it becomes like a mirror.</p><p>You catch a glimpse of your eyes.</p><p>Loki leans in and whispers in your ear.</p><p>“Behind those enticing orbs of yours lies the power to build entire universes, my darling. You can never be truly confined. Do not forget that.”</p><p>--</p><p>You chop together quietly, the rhythmic sound of knives hitting cutting boards a percussive duet between you. Loki glances your way every so often with his soft cerulean eyes. Normally, he simply dissects onions and peppers while you watch with delight and try to get him to elaborate on how he accomplishes such feats but today he’s decided to do it the non-magical way. Alongside you. You can sense his relief in seeing you relax into the busy-ness of the task.</p><p>“This is helping. When I’m doing this, I don’t get caught up in…all of it. The news, the posts, the protocols, the updates. Even though you didn’t have to magic away my laptop and phone like that,” you scowl.</p><p>“’Magic away’? As if I were one of those Midgardian charlatans who dare call themselves magicians? Let’s see you do a concealment charm. Go on then.”</p><p>You press your lips together in his direction. “Well, somebody’s only taught me how to levitate organic matter so far, even though I’ve been askin-.”</p><p>“And that is plenty for you to focus on mastering right now. You’ve done a fair job with it, I will say. When you’re read- hey!” a pepper core hits him square in the nose, leaving a tiny white seed on one of his inky eyelashes.</p><p>“You were saying?” You smirk and run over to him. He blinks rapidly but the seed is still caught.</p><p>You clasp both of his arms and move close. “Stay still, Loki.”</p><p>He nods slightly, still blinking.</p><p>“Close your eyes.” He obeys. You take a moment to study his face. The fine lines relaxed and settled beside his eyes and along his brow and cheeks. The play of a smile on his slender lips as he awaits your touch. His hair, always loose and soft when it was just you two together. The <em>scent</em> of him, that special cologne that was magically extracted from a rare flower that only grows along the border between Muspelheim and Nilfheim. The flush of pink blooming on his razor sharp cheeks.</p><p>Your wonderful, living Loki.</p><p>You gently brush the tiny seed away.</p><p>“Is it gone?” Loki opens his eyes to find yours filled with tears.</p><p>“You and I both know that,” you start to gasp. “We know that there may not be a when. So can we do it soon please? Please, Loki?”</p><p>Loki looks genuinely taken aback. He hasn’t seen this amount of fear in your eyes. You usually held your own in the face of crisis but this was shaking you to your core in ways you’d never experienced before. He could see the cracks forming and it hurt his heart to know that there was no way of patching them up.</p><p>He pulls you close.</p><p>“We can, darling. We can.”</p><p>He steps back.</p><p>“Here,” he holds out his palms and a two handled clay bowl of piping hot liquid appears in them. You can’t quite place the scent wafting above it but it’s very enticing.</p><p>“Loki, I’m not sick…yet,” you sniffle and try to push away the dark thought.</p><p>“It’s for your comfort, dear. Mother’s recipe.”</p><p>You take a sip. It’s a rich, soothing broth flavored with a complex mixture of just-picked fresh herbs.</p><p>“Adapted to your Midgardian tastes, of course.”</p><p>You roll your head back and actually moan as you take another sip and let it linger on your tongue.</p><p>“My. If I’d know it would have such an effect, I would have brought you some sooner. Much sooner.”</p><p>You’re too distracted to even respond. “Mm. Mmm! Well done.” You clasp the bowl in both hands and settle into taking your time to enjoy this glorious concoction.</p><p>Loki’s eyes twinkle. “You look adorable like that.”</p><p>You sip and lift your eyes to his face. “Do I?”</p><p>“Mm like that infant troll you love so much.”</p><p>“Baby Yoda is not a troll.”</p><p>“He is a troll.”</p><p>“No?”</p><p>“Oh then what is he?”</p><p>“He’s a…we don’t actually know.”</p><p>“That’s because you’ll find he’s a troll.”</p><p>You grumble and laugh with him.</p><p>He strokes your cheek, catching your last remaining tear on his thumb.</p><p>“It’s good to see your spirits up again, pet. Even if only for a moment.”</p><p>After you finish the broth, you leave the knives and vegetables scattered around the kitchen and slip back onto the sofa together, lying down face to face. A warm, soft, fuzzy green and black blanket envelopes you both. After a long hibernation, your voice emerges again, soft and restrained.</p><p>“How do you think we’ll get through this? All of us, I mean?”</p><p>Loki closes his mouth and blinks for several seconds. His eyes shimmer and he swallows, before turning to you with a slow smile.</p><p>“Each of us will do what we can, as we can,” he holds your gaze and a profound sense of calm fills you from the center of your spine to the tips of your fingers and toes.</p><p>If only for a moment.</p><p> </p>
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